Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 78
How Often They Rebelled
Heading
A maskil by Asaph.
A Solemn Call to Hear
1 Give ear, O my people, to my instruction.
Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth to share a lesson.
I will speak about puzzling problems from long ago,
3 things we have heard and known,
things our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants.
We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders that he has done.
God’s Goodness in the Wilderness
12 In the presence of their fathers he had performed a wonder,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He split the sea and let them cross through it.
He made the water stand like a wall.
14 He led them with the cloud by day
and all through the night with light from the fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness,
and he let them drink water as plentiful as the deep sea.
16 He brought streams out of the rocky cliff.
He made water flow down like rivers.
The Death of Miriam
20 The people of Israel, the entire community, came to the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.
Water From the Rock
2 There was no water for the community, so they assembled together against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 5 Why have you taken us up out of Egypt to bring us into this horrible place? This place does not have grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates. There is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown. The Glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord spoke to Moses: 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community. You and Aaron, your brother, speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will pour out its water. You will bring water for them from the rock and provide water for the community and their livestock.”
9 Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence just as the Lord commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff two times, and a great amount of water gushed out. The congregation and their livestock drank.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to honor me as holy in the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this assembly into this land which I have given to them.”
13 These are the waters of Meribah,[a] because there the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself to be holy.
32 “We are preaching to you the good news about the promise that was made to our fathers. 33 God has fulfilled this promise for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
You are my Son.
Today I have begotten you.[a]
34 “That God would raise him from the dead never again to be subject to decay, God said in this way:
I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.[b]
35 “Therefore he also says in another place:
You will not let your Holy One see decay.[c]
36 “For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was laid to rest with his fathers, and saw decay. 37 But the One God raised did not see decay.
38 “So, gentlemen, brothers, let it be known to you that through this Jesus forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, also forgiveness from everything from which you could not be justified through the law of Moses. 39 In this Jesus, everyone who believes is justified. 40 So watch out that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:
41 Look, you scoffers,
be amazed and perish!
For I am going to do something in your days,
something you would never believe,
even if someone were to explain it to you.”[d]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.